Land Prices Soar in Niseko, Osaka, and Other Popular Japanese Tourist Spots

Official Japanese land prices for 2019 have been announced, revealing that locations popular with overseas tourists like Niseko in Hokkaidō, Naha in Okinawa, and the Nanba area of Osaka have rapidly increased in value.

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Three locations in the Hokkaidō skiing area known as Niseko ranked in the top 10 Japanese residential areas with the highest percentage rises in land prices, as of January 1, 2019. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism announced the official land prices of 26,000 locations nationwide. Yamada in the town of Kutchan, immediately north of the Niseko municipality itself, heads the list with a rise of 50% compared to the previous year. The top 10 also include two locations in Naha, Okinawa, and five in Nagoya. The Niseko area also ranked top for business location increases, with land prices for Minami Ichijō Nishi in Kutchan soaring by 58.8%. The business top 10 further include four places in Osaka, three in Kyoto, and two in Naha.

Top Residential Land Price Percentage Increases

Location

Rise (%)

1

Yamada, Kutchan, Hokkaidō

50

2

Kita Nanajō Nishi, Kutchan, Hokkaidō

32.4

3

Omoromachi, Naha, Okinawa

30

4

Minami Sanjō Higashi, Kutchan, Hokkaidō

28.6

5

Sakae, Naka Ward, Nagoya

26.1

Top Business Land Price Percentage Increases

Location

Rise (%)

1

Minami Ichijō Nishi, Kutchan, Hokkaidō

58.8

2

Nipponbashi, Chūō Ward, Osaka

44.4

3

Chayamachi, Kita Ward, Osaka

44.2

4

Gionmachi Kitagawa, Higashiyama Ward, Kyoto

43.6

5

Shibata, Kita Ward, Osaka

42.9

Many tourists from Asia and Australia visit the Niseko area to ski in winter and stay long term in summer. It is also popular as a holiday home area and for investment opportunities. Okinawa receives a lot of overseas tourists, and visitors from China and South Korea flock to Osaka. Yoneyama Hidetaka, a senior fellow at Fujitsū Research Institute, says that Osaka has an obvious lack of accommodation and securing space for hotels is leading to price rises in business areas.

The government has set a goal of achieving 40 million overseas visitors by 2020 and that figure reached 31.2 million in 2018. Chinese was the top nationality with nearly 30% of the total visitor numbers. However, Yoneyama predicts that if China’s economy slows down due to its trade war with the United States, it may affect inbound demand. Aside from locations like Kyoto that are perenially popular, tourist areas that are too dependent on overseas visitors need to keep a careful eye on future land price trends.